<p>OK, you've got 132 comments for USC, so that's definitely a large enough number to give you a good statistical sampling. With that number you are going to get a fairly high degree of accuracy on the survey data. There are 51 positive comments, 47 negative, and 30 neutral -- which is probably as close to an even split as you will ever see. I would take any common themes that show up through those threads very seriously. </p>
<p>I glanced through some of the negatives, and they seem to be mostly complaints about campus culture -- the naysayers perceive kids as snobbish and materialistic, and complain about the overall conservatavism of the campus. Which means that if your son is himself conservative and a preppy type, none of those complaints would apply -- all of those things really are "fit" issues. However, the large number of comments would make me feel that the USC campus culture is probably somewhat pervasive -- so if I were the parent of a tree-hugging liberal (and I am) -- I'd be very wary of USC based on the reviews I read. </p>
<p>Note: since I was only browsing them in the context of this thread, I may have mischaracterized them based on a cursory reading. I think its worthwhile for a prospective student to read all 132 comments, as daunting a prospect as that may be.</p>